Bowling

The family enjoyed their first frame of bowling a week ago for Matthew's birthday. Norah and Justin's eyes lit up when they realized they got to pick out a brightly colored ball of their own. Norah chose pink, and Justin chose yellow, but they often sampled orange and green. We were surprised to find that they managed to carry their own ball to the lane several consecutive times without dropping it. The real surprise came when Norah went to bowl and found it more helpful to kick the ball than push it. Her form was unorthodox and not terribly effective, but she was quite proud of herself.

Neither of them were able to generate much force and the ball drifted aimlessly down the lane, slowly bumping off the rails until it came to a complete stop well short of the pins. After the attendant fetched the ball, he offered a ramp to the kids, and we were rolling. The kids showed us how it was done and both had respectable scores compared to the embarrassment of our efforts, but we've conveniently forgotten the exact scores.

We all had a great time, but we found that the kids' attention lasted only about 30 minutes. The temptation of adventure proved too much. Justin was a stinker and playfully evaded us and clamored in front of bowlers on adjacent lanes, then escaped again to happily explore the ball racks and beyond. Uncle Patrick came to his rescue and patiently walked him through the arcade where he was fascinated by but wary of the toy machine with "the claw", as well as the target range and driving games.

The four of us decided to go back this weekend for some family time, and thankfully remembered our camera this time. Justin showed off his unique, animated style, and literally attacked the ball. His technique put so much "English" on the ball that not even the bumpers or the ramp could counteract the chaos, which resulted in an impressive number of gutter balls- something we really didn't know was possible. The kids were both excited, but lost interest again after 3o minutes, which resulted in some of the most entertaining bowling the alley has seen in a while.

I asked Justin if he wanted to bowl upside down, and he jumped at the chance. He hung upside down, then shoved the ball down the ramp with a giggle. Naturally both kids wanted to do it for the majority of the remaining frames. With fatigued backs, Heather and I switched tactics and promoted the "battering ram" technique, giving the kids the opportunity to bowl with a running start. This managed to keep them happy and we finished off a fun family outing.

Norah encourages Daddy to watch with her, anticipating a collision with the pins.